Christopher Lazenby was born in Dishforth, Yorkshire in 1814. He had a conversion experience at the age of 22 and subsequently joined the Primitive Methodist Church. In 1842, Lazenby moved to America and became an early itinerate preacher in the American Primitive Methodist Church, which was established in New York in 1840. He ministered in the Western Conference, which included Illinois and Wisconsin. In August of 1846, Lazenby withdrew his membership from the American Primitive Methodist Church and aligned with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He joined the Rock River Conference in 1847 and retired in 1871. Lazenby died on March 6, 1899.

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains manuscripts and printed materials from the Primitive Methodist Church, both in England and in America. Folder 1 contains manuscript minutes from the 1846 Western Conference of the American Primitive Methodist Church; included in these minutes is a letter noting Lazenby’s withdrawal from the denomination. Folder 2 contains a printed Doctrines and Discipline of the Primitive Methodist Church’s Missionary Conference (1838) with manuscript notes and edits. Folder 3 contains camp meeting tickets from the Primitive Methodist Connexion in England. Folder 4 contains printed circuit schedules, a couple of which have manuscript sermon notes written on the back presumably by Christopher Lazenby.